Low-Profile Dual-Band Dual-Polarized Transmitarray Antenna Based on Multilayer Frequency Selective Surfaces

In this work, a new dual-band dual-polarized transmitarray (TA) antenna element based on multilayer frequency selective surfaces is introduced. This novel configuration has been successfully tested for K/Ka satellite communication (SatCom) frequency bands and is composed of a single low-profile printed circuit board incorporating five metal layers without any vertical transitional elements. In contrast to existing solutions, this proposal eliminates the need for vertical interconnections, air gaps, or spacers between the metal layers, resulting in a cost-effective board with an overall thickness of 0.24 lambda at 30 GHz. The proposed unit cell operates at 20 and 30 GHz exploiting an interleaved lattice configuration. It affords independent control of the transmitted field phase within a range of 300 degrees, at both frequency bands while maintaining a transmission loss not exceeding 3.5 dB. To substantiate the proposed design, an 87 x 87 mm(2) TA has been prototyped and experimentally validated. The measured results indicate a peak gain of 20.6 and 22.8 dB at 20 and 30 GHz, respectively. Furthermore, the -1 dB gain bandwidth has been found to be 5% in the first band and 4.5% in the second band.